Sewn twice holds better. A German proverb about redundancy, said approvingly. Alongside auf Nummer sicher gehen, to go on the safe number, and sicher ist sicher, safe is safe — which is a tautology, offered as a reason.
The Works Constitution Act
Das Betriebsverfassungsgesetz gives the works council co-determination rights over working hours, overtime, holiday scheduling, monitoring of employees, and the rules of conduct in the workplace. On these matters the employer cannot act alone. Not consultation — agreement.
One word for procedure
The German Verfahren covers a procedure, a legal proceeding, a manufacturing method and an administrative process. One noun for the ordered way of getting from a beginning to an end, used across law, industry and government alike.
Haggling
To haggle. A German verb with an unmistakable register — markets, bazaars, small sums, and a slight contempt. No German professional describes their own negotiating as Feilschen. It is what other people do.
The long relationship exception
The Federal Court of Justice has held that a customer in a long-standing supply relationship is not obliged to inspect immediately where he has received the same defect-free goods for years and the supplier changed the specification without telling him.
The duty to check relaxes in proportion to the trust earned — and the exception exists because the supplier broke the pattern silently.
Hand tools
German hand tools are designed around the hand: balance point, grip diameter, the angle at which the tool sits when set down. The object anticipates how it will be held, not only what it will do.
The settlement judge
Der Güterichter. German courts appoint judges whose function is to conduct settlement negotiations rather than to rule — a separate judge from the one who would decide the case, with no power over the outcome. The court provides a route to agreement that cannot become a route to judgment.
The spare parts store
Das Ersatzteillager. German manufacturers commit to spare parts availability for long periods after a product line ends, and hold the inventory to do it. The obligation extends decades past the sale. The stock is held against a failure that has not occurred in a machine that may already have been scrapped.
Severance by formula
German severance — Abfindung — is customarily calculated at half a month’s salary per year of service, and the formula is used in settlements and named in statute for certain dismissals. Length of service converts directly into money at a rate everyone knows before the conversation starts.
The procedure instruction
The Verfahrensanweisung. A controlled document with a number, an author, an approval and a revision history, describing how a defined activity is carried out. It is part of the system, and changing it means going through the system.